The present invention relates to golf. More specifically, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods for playing golf that increase player participation and are accepted for play by golf courses.
Prior attempts to develop a golf-type game with a bow and arrow-type mechanism were previously proposed, without much commercial success. For example, one such attempt includes use of a toy-type bow with attached arrow, and a special, detachable golf ball mounted upon the end of the arrow, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,505,524 B2 issued Aug. 13, 2013. In such a device, after the user draws and releases the arrow, the special ball detaches from the tip of the arrow. The special ball flies down the course while the arrow remains attached to the string. One drawback to this approach is that non-standard bows are required to be used—a special bow with an arrow that does not separate from the string. Such a solution seems to have a high barrier of acceptance for players, for example, as it requires the player to purchase a special bow (potentially hundreds of dollars) that could only be used to play the game. Further, the bow would seem more like a toy to players, especially to those skilled in archery. Another drawback is that, similar to conventional golf, the balls can roll into the brush and get lost. Because the balls are especially made to fit on the end of the toy arrow, unlike conventional golf, it is expected that players will hunt for their special balls, rather than drop a new ball. This makes the round of golf last longer, and reduces the number of paying golfers a golf course can push through in a day.
Other attempts to develop a golf-type game using a bow and special arrows have been proposed, without much commercial success. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,962 issued Sep. 18, 1984, the user uses a special multi-pointed arrows for each shot. When landing on the ground with a small angle, the sharp multi-pointed arrows are designed to catch ahold of the ground instead of skipping along the ground. One drawback to this solution is that this game would be very dangerous to play on any conventional golf course. A misfire or test release of an arrow could easily harm the golfer or other members of the golfer's party. Further, as golf courses typically have parallel holes, any misfire of an arrow could be deadly to a person on an adjacent hold. Such solutions are therefore not believed to be attractive to players or golf courses.
Additional attempts to develop a golf-type game using a non-club launching means have also been proposed, without much commercial success. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,528 issued Jun. 15, 2004, a rifle-type launcher is used to launch a golf ball down the fairway. Similar to the proposed solutions above, these solutions seem to have high barrier to acceptance for players. For example, it requires the players to purchase a custom rifle (potentially hundreds of dollars) that could only be used to play the game. Another drawback is that the use of a rifle on a golf course may be very disconcerting to other players on the golf course. Such solutions are therefore not believed to be very attractive to players or golf courses.
In an unrelated field to a golf-type game, the inventors are aware of a hobby termed “live action role playing” (LARP) where players dress up as medieval warriors to fight. In such embodiments, the players are required to dress up in approved armor, and are required to have approved weapons, before they can clash. In some scenarios, combat archers are allowed and they can deliberately shoot approved arrows at other players. For safety's sake, the arrows are specifically designed to travel very limited distances, for example, up to about 150 feet. If they were designed to go further distances (via a higher bow pull), if a person were shot at a close distance, the impact force would be very high and potentially lethal. To further limit the distances, the arrowheads are typically not designed to be aerodynamic. Additionally, such arrows typically include wide, heavily cushioned arrow heads, that spread-out the impact force on a victim. Drawbacks to such arrows for use in a golf-type game includes that because the aerodynamics are so poor, the range of such arrows is much too short for practical golf-play. For example, for a 600 yard par 5 hole, a player might have to shoot over such arrows twelve shots on that hole to reach the green. Accordingly, a player would find it too tiring to play a full 18 holes of golf. Further, because the round would take a long time to complete, golf courses would not allow such an arrow to be used, as fewer rounds of golf would be completed per day. Yet another drawback is that because such arrow heads typically include foam cushioning for padding, they are not expected to be very durable.
In light of the above, the inventors believe that a new modified golf game and equipment are desired.